New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and musical maestro SP Balasubramaniam are among the eminent personalities awarded with Padma Vibhushan this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on the eve of 72nd Republic Day.
The Padma, the fourth highest civilian award in India, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
These awards--given for excellence in disciplines such as art, social work, public affairs, sports, etc--are usually given by the President at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan every year.

While Dr Belle Monappa Hegde of Tamil Nadu has been given for his work in the field of Medicine, late Narinder Singh Kapany of USA for Science and Engineering, Mr Sudarshan Sahoo of Odisha for Art,Maulana Wahiuddin Khan and Mr BB Lal for spiritualism and Archaeology respectively.
A total of 10 people have been given the third highest award Padma Bhushan which includes the names of Ms Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra of Kerala for Art, late Tarun Gogoi of Assam for Public Affairs , Mr Chandrashekhar Kambara of Karnataka for Literature and Education, Ms Sumitra Mahajan of Madhya Pradesh for Public Affairs, Mr Nripendra Misra of Uttar Pradesh for Civil Services, late Ram Vilas Paswan of Bihar and late Keshubhai Patel of Gujarat for Public Affairs, late Kalbe Sadiq of Uttar Pradesh for spiritualism Mr Rajnikant Devidas Shroff of Maharashtra for Trade and Industry and Mr Tarlochan Singh of Haryana for Public Services.
Ms Krishnan Nair and Shantakumari Chithra often credited as singer K. S. Chithra of Kerala for Art, have been considered as a duo case in which the Award is counted as one.
The Centre has also conferred 102 Padma Shri awards to the persons of eminence in the various fields including art, literature, public services.
The Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
The Awards are given in various disciplines, fields of activities such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, while ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field.
The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year and these have been conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions, held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.
Among the 102 Padma Shri Awards, 29 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, Non Resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin, Overseas Citizen of India , 16 Posthumous awardees and 1 transgender awardee.

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